Haruka - Truths - The past
by Captain Gloval
Notes:
This occurs about one month after the end of the Manga.
UH Urashima Haruka
UN Urashima Naru
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Naru walked her husband to the door and wished him a good day with a kiss.
Keitaro had some paperwork to turn into Toudai before the next year started. The papers were to make the changes that would note them married on the schools records. They were both going to go and spend the day together but Haruka had asked Naru to help with the Teahouse so Keitaro was going alone.
Haruka waited for the newly weds to say their good byes with a trademark cigarette in her mouth and chuckled at the repeat of the good bye she had given her new husband, Seta, that morning.
As Naru and Haruka walked down to the Hiza-Hinata they started talking about how married life was treating them.
Naru had finally finished moving all her belongings into the Kanrinrin's room. Keitaro had fixed the hole between the rooms and Kanako moved into the vacated room. At first this had bothered Naru a bit, she had called that room hers for so long she couldn't see letting someone else live there. Keitaro reminded her that her sister-in-law was the one taking the room over though and that gave her something else to think about and helped get her mind off of the issue.
As they got to the Hiza and began to prepare for opening Naru asked Haruka the one question that she had been dying to ask since the marriage in Molmol "What is it like having a daughter Haruka-san? Does it bother you that she isn't yours?"
Haruka stopped pulling chairs down for a moment to think about how to answer this question. "Having a child doesn't bother me that much. It's something I denied myself as a young woman, something I wish I could have enjoyed. Sara isn't really Seta's daughter either, so that doesn't bother me much. She's is, much like Kanako, adopted by close friends of her parent's."
"Kanako's parents are friends of Keitaro's? I didn't know that." Responded Naru as she started up the water heaters and began to get down the tea so she could start a pot.
"Yes, good friends for a very long time. Still are actually," replied Haruka with a distant look in her eyes.
After a few minutes of silence Haruka made them both a cup of tea and took a seat, inviting Naru to sit also. "So, how was your honeymoon with my nephew," asked Haruka with a mischievous grin as she took a seat across from Naru?
Naru went bright red and looked down as she responded, "It was wonderful. It's funny, when were dating we had tried to be intimate a couple of times but something always went wrong. The first time, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to let him touch me. Every time he came close I'd hit him somehow. Then, just as I was calming down, Nyamo somehow was in the bed and we, of course, stopped and came back to the Inn. The next time we tried I doubted my feelings for Keitaro and tried to force the issue. That went totally wrong in every way."
UH: "That sounds about right, that must have just been before okaasan officially gave ownership of the Inn to Keitaro. I remember you were talking about breaking up with Keitaro and he was going insane. Then okaasan told you that you were Keitaro's promised girl."
UN: "Yes, that settled a lot of the problems we were creating for our relationship. The night of our wedding, though, everything seemed natural. It was wonderful in so many ways. We went slowly at first. We knew the mechanics of the issue but not the feelings that went with it. After that we looked at each other and kissed. It was awesome. Then we went kind of wild. We had been in love ever since Keitaro came to the Inn, even if it took us years to realize it."
UH: "Actually, if you think about it, you had been in love for most of your lives. You fell for one another when you were here as a children."
UN: "That's true. Anyway, after about five hours we finally collapsed in exhaustion..."
Naru was suddenly snapped out of her dreamy state when a cigarette, followed by a spray of tea, flew past her line of vision. She jumped up and tried to help her now coughing Aunt clear her throat.
"FIVE HOURS?!" Choked Haruka when she could finally breath again. "Che, you two are like jack rabbits."
Naru looked away blushing even brighter then she had earlier. "Well... What was your honeymoon with Seta like? The two of you have been in love for almost as long, probably longer."
UH: "Well that wasn't our first time to be together. We did consummate the marriage but nothing as spectacular as you two."
UN: "When did you and Seta actually meet?"
UH: "We went to the same junior high. At the time Seta was much like Keitaro when he first moved here. Clumsy perverted, stupid at times, but also like Keitaro, he was extremely kind and well meaning. He was a good student and learned pretty quickly. At first he and I would study together for tests. As the year progressed we became closer. By the end of junior high we were dating."
UN: "What did obaasan think of Seta then?"
UH: "Oh yes. At first he was really a great guy. Nothing really bad about him, and most of the things he did do that were bad, like the perverted ness, was attributable to being a teenager. Things changed though a few years later, during our 2nd year in high school."
UN: "Did something happen that changed her mind about Seta?"
UH: "What I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room Naru, not yet. OK?"
UN: "OK, Haruka. I promise."
UH: "Just before you and Keitaro made your little promise back then, Seta and I had finally gotten to the point in our relationship that we were ready to move on to the next step. We went on a wonderful date one Friday night, ending in a love hotel in town. It was wonderful to tell the truth. We stayed the night in the room. The next morning Seta woke me up in a nice way, we enjoyed each other one more time before heading home. It wasn't until after the fact that I found out he wasn't using protection that morning like we had the night before. I left the hotel very mad. I didn't know what to do. I was scared and very angry."
UN: "I never knew any of this. I knew you and Seta had dated as high school and college students but I never imagined you had gone beyond close friends."
UH: "Actually we never dated in collage, only in high school. Anyway, from there I went to the only person I felt comfortable going to, my brother. I told him of what had happened. At first he was going to go after Seta. I stopped him and told him that would do no good. He helped me through the doctor's appointments and other things to confirm if I was expecting or not. When the tests all came back positive he asked me to come and stay with him to 'help his wife care for Keitaro'. I don't know if okaasan knew the truth or not, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her, or to face Seta at the time."
UH: "Nine month later the baby was born. By brother and his wife adopted the baby and raised her as their own. I went back to Toudai for a while but couldn't get back on track. I finally came clean to okaasan and she asked me what I would do with my life. I told her I couldn't concentrate on classes or catch up. That was when we opened the Hiza-Hinata, as a place for me to work and try to move on. I have been here ever since."
UN: "Didn't Seta ever try to get in touch with you?"
UH: "Oh, many times. That was when he learned some of his resiliency. Every time he would come by and try to talk I would beat the hell out of him and send him away."
UN: "He was still trying to win you back when I first started living here wasn't he, when he was tutoring me?"
UH: "Yes, I'm sorry. I know you were falling for him at the time. He was so focused on me he never even noticed."
Naru sat in silence for a few minutes absorbing everything she had been told. She felt even more foolish about the crush she'd had on Seta as a young teenager then she had before. Now she knew she would have never had ANY chance at winning Seta's heart. It also meant she had held out against Keitaro back then on for a completely non-existent relationship with Seta.
Knowing this did explain a few things about the past year though. Now she knew why Haruka had always avoided Kanako. Now that she thought about it Haruka and Kanako did look a lit alike.
UN: "Are you ever going to tell her?"
UH: "I want to one day, but I'm not sure if I m ready to yet. Every time I see her I think of how I failed her as a mother."
UN: "What about Seta, does he know?"
UH: "No one's ever told him but he isn't a completely stupid man. It is quite likely he figured it out sometime over the last 15 years."
UN: "Well, that makes the crush she had on Keitaro even weirder. She still harbors those feelings too. Telling her would help. She really is related to him."
UH: "Naru, please. You promised not to tell anyone."
UN: "I wouldn't actually tell her. I was just thinking out loud. I'm just scared one day I'll come home to her dressed up as me and in a compromising position. I know she would never do anything to hurt Keitaro physically or emotionally but the fear is still there."
UH: "Well on a different note. Have the two of you talked about when you will try for your first child?"
UN: "We talked about it on the way back from the honeymoon. We are thinking about trying later in the year, timing is so I will finish off and have the baby during the next summer break. With everyone supporting us having a newborn while attending our senior year shouldn't be too difficult."
UH: "True. Seta and I were thinking the same timeframe. We can save money buying only one of some things."
While thinking on thinking on matters of child rearing the door opened and customers began to filter into the Hiza. The morning rush went relatively quickly with a steady flow of customers. Just before Lunch Keitaro returned and offered to run the grill while Haruka ran the rest of the kitchen and Naru worked the floor. The Lunch rush went off without a hitch and as the flow of customers dropped to a trickle Keitaro excused himself to go and work on the Inn's chores.
Once again alone and enjoying a cup of warm tea the Urashima women began to think about their future married life.
UH: "So, are you going to travel with Keitaro on his excavations? Or stay home and care for the Kids and Inn."
UN: "Keitaro is thinking of becoming a Professor only. He has been talking to Seta, actually, about teaming up. Seta finds the data and Keitaro teaches it to the new students."
UH: "Seta was talking about something like that. He hates the teaching part of his job with Toudai. What about you, what are you aiming for?"
UN: "Right now I'm thinking about teaching Junior High maybe High school literature."
UH: "That would be nice, filling young minds, stealing young hearts."
The day wound down the flow of customers dwindled until coming to a stop just before sundown. As the two women were cleaning up preparing to close the night the door opened letting someone in.
UH: "I am very sorry but we are closing for the night, I can make you a cup… Hello Kanako."
Kanako: "Hello Haru… Okaasan."
Naru stood to the side and watched on as mother and daughter continued to stair at one another.
UH: "How… How did you find out? Who told you?"
Kanako: "Hina-obaasan." She said as she held out a piece of paper. "She sent this fax just a short while ago after asking Oneechan… er… Oboosan to get me and leave the room, as this was for my eyes only, until you and I were ready to tell him."
Then Naru saw something she thought she would never see in her life. Haruka began to cry. Slowly at first but as she continued to look at Kanako the tears came faster and faster.
UH: "Please forgive me, I only did what I thought was best for you. I was only 15 at the time. I could barely care for myself."
Kanako: "It's ok okaasan. I understand, really. I would like to see if we can go forward from here though. Oboosan's parents were never unkind to me but I was always an outsider. I would like to see what it is like having a mother of my own, and a father, now."
UH: "I would like that also, please come and sit. We have a lot to talk about."
Naru watch from the entrance to the kitchen as the two seated themselves for a very long talk. After watching them for a few minutes and took off her apron and quietly made her way out the back door and back up to her husband. She decided to not tell her husband what she had learned today and wait for Haruka and Kanako to tell him when they were ready.
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This is an idea I got while reading the manga about a year ago and had started but back shelved due to writers block. For those that think the ages are off we know Haruka is 27 at the start of the manga, therefore by the end, when Keitaro and Naru get married she would have aged 2 years making her 29 almost 30. Kanako is 15 when she appears therefore it would be possible.
Questions, comments, complaints can be sent to my email registered with my FF account. Flames and go water themselves.
If you need/want translations for the few honorifics and titles I used feel free to email me also.
Have a nice Day.